This frog is found in the rain forest of Costa Rica. It is very very tiny about the size of an average thumbnail.. It is poisonous and one must use caution and not touch it even though it is quite cute to look at.
Another beautiful frog capture, Judy! The little fellow looks nice and sharp.
A bit of trivia. This is one of the less toxic varieties of dart frogs. Dart frogs bred in captivity are much less toxic than their wild counterparts so it's thought that they get their poison from the critters they eat in the wild.
Thanks Ken for your comments and the added information. This is actually a frog that we did find in the wild and not in La Paz were they are in captivity. So I am not too sure just how poisonous this one was. Again many thanks Ken
Another beauty, Judy! I really like the bit of dried grass on his leg - that really adds to the realism of the image! Beautiful control of the reds here. I do wish his face wasn't cutting through the main vein of the leaf but, as you said, there's no rearranging this little guy! YIKES! :eek:
Agree with Ken about the poison of these frogs when they live in captivity, but even then, they sometimes, find their prays inside the terrarium, for example termites and fire ants, so even if they are ''domesticated'' they can be poisonous. Now, let's remember that these little ones are not so toxic as their Colombian counterparts Phyllobates terribilis, that in fact can kill humans. Fortunately, these frogs are not so toxic and become a great subject for our purposes!
Judy, this is a lovely little frog and I really like this image, that banana/heliconia leaf makes for a very good platform. :)
Judy, great sharpness and exposure on this image. Looks very nice. And yes, accurate info about the poison frog by both Ken and Juan Carlos. Juan Carlos, I think Ken may have been referring to captivity outside of Costa Rica. I once oversaw a live exhibit of this and other species in the US (including P. terribilis!), and there many of the frogs were bred in captivity so they have definitely lost their toxicity after a steady diet of non-alkaloid producing foods (e.g., US crickets dusted with calcium power and fruit flies). But I think you're right about poison frogs in captivity here; I'm sure they might find some of their regular foods and still be able to produce some toxins.
Poisonous red dart frog
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